Minnesota Steelheader

    Just a quick note: Upper Shore streams are still trending although it's hard to say how long this will last if the temps stay up around that 60°F mark. We also simply don't have enough data-points in the Upper Shore creel to see the more granular interactions between flows and fish at this time; just a friendly reminder that if you happen to get out, please send us your reports. And Thanks!

    A huge thank you to all of YOU! Response to the creel project has been tremendous this year, and we can't do it without your help. We are getting very good data and have already noted some interesting items: The run, while we are seeing the more or less orderly progression of start dates from south to north, kicked off roughly only two days apart for each region. This is a bit unusual, particularly for the Upper Shore The cold spell we had in the 10 days leading up to May slowed fishing, but it simply changed where fish locate in the streams and how you approach presentations Creel numbers are still trending very well for all regions Steelhead have by far been the predominant catch, with a total rainbow creel (steelhead + kamloops) of 496 fish sampled. Very few kamloops being reported from Mid and Upper Shore submissions     Here's what things look like so far. Keep in mind that the creel numbers are simply a trend against actual temps,...

    Once again in 2015, we are seeing the strong correlations between the reported run initiation temperature and the initial upstream migration of steelhead and kamloops.     The various stream packages have been giving us fits because they have been up and down, partially running, not running, fully running... sometimes all variations on that theme for any given day. At any rate, here is the best we've been able to come up with given the unpredictable nature of the available data:     We started tracking daily numbers back on the 15th of March after we started seeing movement in the ice. On April 2nd we began flirting with the reported run initiation temps, but didn't get too excited simply because there was still so much ice around along with snow-pack up in the highlands, and underneath conifer stands still waiting to melt. We assumed temps would tank with remaining melt slowing things down temporarily, and that appears ...

A couple of us hit the lower shore rivers yesterday dispite the low water.  It was just to nice of a day to miss out on some fresh air and running water. Though the water is low, the rain earlier this week pushed fish into the rivers.  We managed to hook more than we landed, but those landed were a wonderful sight.   We were seeing, and catching, both kamloops and steelhead.   People often ask us " will this weekend be a good time to fish?"  We are happy to give our opinions, but we believe If you  have the time to go fishing, just go!  When the conditions are less than ideal, learn to adapt and take the time try new tactics and gear or explore new water.   As you see from the photo, it can produce some fine results.

Whether you are new to Minnesota Steelheader, or simply missed it last year, we need your help! The Minnesota Steelheader Creel Project is a non-scientific poll of catch information similar to what is provided in the Official MNDNR creel reports. Your part is very simple - When you fish in 2015, simply record the following information: Species & Number Caught : Kamloops, Steelhead or Brook Trout The Region Where You Caught the Fish : Lower, Mid or Upper Shore. It is critical that you get the location correct. MS is not interested in the specific streams, simply the region, so please use this format: Lower Shore Region - All Tributaries from Mission Creek to Knife River Mid Shore Region - All Tributaries from Stewart River to Baptism River Upper Shore Region - All Tributaries from Little Marais River to Pigeon River including those on the Reservation. The Date the Fish Were Caught : Well, the date.... That's it! Species, Region and Date, how simple is that? There i...

    In a word, Ice...     I took a whirlwind spin with a fishing buddy down the Lower-Shore from Two Harbors to points south, and the story right now is ice and ice cover. Here's a picture looking both upstream towards the new Knife River trap, and downstream from the same vantage point:     It was the same story everywhere. Water temps, even in the smaller tribs, are still low. And while there are occasional open slots here and there, and the mouths are open (sort of), there is still quite a bit of ice cover.     Currently the best game in town is shore-fishing for staging kamloops, steelhead (and the coho which are just after lunch). For a great rundown on shore-fishing, check out this previous post by MS board member LM: Shore Casting for Winter Kamloops   Regards- NMF

AP - North Shore, Minnesota March 14th, 2015 A certain Staffer at Minnesota Steelheader was nearly brought up on dereliction of duty charges today...     Mea culpa, this is what you get when you have a full-time job with too many irons in the fire on a direct collision course with steelheading. Quick update for now, but more regular reports coming because things are a' movin' as they say.     The intense warmup has brought about an astonishing brownup along points north. What you are looking at is a 250m resolution satellite photo of Gichi from March 9th: ...And now from March 13th:     This is important because the process of opening the streams and warming water temps accelerates significantly once the snow-pack is gone. The danger now actually becomes low flows if/when we lose our snow-pack too quickly; drought could be a real problem at this point.     One thing we are not seeing are th...